How to Wear Prints This Winter

Looking for a way to brighten winter days? Prints are your seasonal way to stand out from the shadows. This winter means picking up key patterns like camo, tartan, paisley, and all-over-motifs to name a few. In fact, experts at Trendstop.com — a trend forecasting agency — renowned for its insightful trend analysis and forecasts, have predicted (and very well, we might add) that menswear prints will be one of the top trends during this winter season.

Get ready to add some prints to your life (and wardrobe), but be warned that these prints need to be deployed with care: If you overdo it, you can walk around as an optical illusion (or a magic eye picture), but worn well, patterns can pull outfits together, complement them, add texture, and make a statement in all the right ways. Here’s how and where to wear prints this winter season.

Off-duty prints

Source: Mr Porter

When you’re away from the constraints of the office, it’s time to really play around with prints, lest not go overboard because freeing yourself of the constrictions of the office can lead to the pitfall of incorporating too many prints. Stunt that inclination to go overboard by sticking to one printed piece but keeping yourself open to more abstract patterns. Use fabrics to keep your choice prints in check; the wilder the style, the more matte the canvas should be.

Besides printed tops, which we’ll get to in a moment, printed legwear is a great and unexpected way to add individuality to your look, not to mention printed bombers and jackets, but be sure when you opt for any of those that you keep everything else simple and let the printed piece take center stage.

If you’re less adventurous or enthusiastic about prints, a good checkered shirt is a must in any winter wardrobe. It’s a subtle print that introduces color to your look and instantly elevates the dullest of outfits. Checks and tartans are incredibly easy to pair with your favorite jeans, chinos, or even joggers and are great for winter layering under your parka.

What to get:

Business attire prints

Source: Bloomingdale’s

Prints for the office can be a little tricky: You want to grab your co-workers’ and your boss’s attention in the right way, and just a subtle touch of pattern can inject a little life into the most mundane work ensembles. As a general rule of thumb, when choosing patterns for work, your job’s creativity is in direct proportion to the size and subtly of the print that you can rock. For instance, lawyers should best stick with micropatterned shirts, as opposed to an all out maximalist bold checkered suit. To keep from going too over-the-top, limit yourself to two colors and a pattern and keep the rest of your outfit demure, pulling the look together by incorporating a color from the print. This is also a great time to try a patterned sweater with a demure blazer in perfect winter fashion.

“Another way of introducing checks into your wardrobe, to spruce up your office attire, try a pair of grey trousers. These trousers are still really smart, but offer a little more excitement in your Monday-Friday outfits,” says The Idle Man. Additionally, try accessories that let you dip your toe into the pattern pool if you’re unsure of how your office will react to your pattern game. Feel free to try bolder patterns and colors for your pocket square or socks.

What to get:

Off-to-the-gym prints

Source: END.

Perhaps the easiest and most carefree way to deploy prints is at the gym, or with your athleisure style. Activewear’s inherent energy means that you have more freedom to not only wear bold patterns, but to make the right statement altogether by clashing prints and patterns. So as not to look like you’re auditioning for the circus, properly bridge opposing patterns by connecting colors to pull it all together. Again, if you’re feeling less pattern happy, try a single printed item like a pair of running pants or a bomber to wear on your walk to the gym.